We use cookies to improve your experience on our website and ensure the information we provide is more relevant. If you continue without changing your cookie settings, we will assume you are happy to accept all cookies on the Army website. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Airborne forces make longest flight to jump

07 June 2016

British paratroopers have jumped in alongside their US and Polish counterparts to show their ability to work together and deliver a Swift Response to international crises.

Some 230 soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade parachuted into Torun in Poland in a mass drop of 1,400 paratroopers from the US Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division and the Polish 6 Brygada Powietrznodesantowa.

Planning and communications specialists from Headquarters 16 Air Assault Brigade flew in from Fort Bragg, North Carolina alongside the US soldiers, with the transatlantic journey - making the longest insertion flight ever carried out by British paratroopers. A 105mm Light Gun from 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery was also dropped from US Air Force C-17s.

Today’s jump marked the start of Exercise Swift Response, which will see more than 5,000 soldiers from 10 NATO countries training together in Germany and Poland to improve their ability to operate together.

The force of multinational paratroopers and their equipment was delivered from 30 aircraft, including two RAF C-130 Hercules. Two companies from 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment mounted from Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the jump.

On the ground, the troops’ mission is to capture key positions to enable the US Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment to pass through Torun tomorrow (8). The unit’s Stryker armoured vehicles are driving 1,250 miles from its base in Vilseck, southern Germany to a NATO exercise in Estonia.

Among those who jumped in was Colonel Graham Livingstone, Deputy Commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade. He said: “Exercise Swift Response is a powerful demonstration of the strategic reach and agility of airborne forces and their ability to react rapidly to emerging crises. Training with our partners builds the scale of what we can achieve, develops understanding about the way we each operate and shows our readiness and ability to act together to protect shared interests.

“The mission we are practising in Poland is a textbook example of how airborne forces can be used, parachuting in ahead of heavier forces to secure the way for them to pass through and continue the advance.”

As the exercise continues, 16 Air Assault Brigade will reconfigure itself to partner with the French 11e Brigade Parachutiste as the Airborne Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (A-CJEF). As part of the 82nd Airborne Division, the French-led A-CJEF will jump into Hohenfels in Southern Germany for a demanding week-long mission to restore stability to a troubled region. The ground troops will be supported by a combined aviation battlegroup of British and French attack and support helicopters, commanded by 4 Regiment Army Air Corps.